VIDEO: Avon prepares to go to court for land for possible interchange

AVON -- The city of Avon is preparing to take 11 property owners around the proposed Lear/Nagel interchange to court to determine a fair property price, while more than a third of the other owners in the area have agreed to appraisal prices. The rest of the property owners are working on getting contracts signed, as some are owned by multiple people and with some living out of state, according to Planning Coordinator Jim Piazza.

"If all goes well, we'll have 19 out of 30 after that and we're hopeful that some of the 11 will settle before court," Piazza said. The latest numbers show it will cost approximately $5 million to acquire the 31 parcels the city and the Ohio Department of Transportation need to build the interchange. All together, that is around 29 to 30 acres. The acquisition process started at the beginning of August.

The city's appraisal firm priced the land anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000 per acre depending on location, zoning and improvements to the land.

Advertisement

Piazza added that some of the parcels are needed only for the underground easements, while others will be needed temporarily during the construction.

At last night's City Council meeting, members approved more tax incentive financing for the interchange area. Council had already put a TIF on some of the property around the interchange but accidentally left out three parcels: the ones added last night. The TIF can only be used for commercial properties, and when a business improves the value of the land, the city will get more from property taxes.

The city will get about 40 percent of the return while the school district will get 60 percent, said Finance Director Bill Logan.

As far as engineering the project goes, Piazza said, Phase 2, which involves underground work, is still being reviewed by ODOT and should be completed by Oct. 15. Included in the phase is the structuring of bridge abutments and pylons.

The plan is to go out for bids on the project in February, get them back in March and break ground in the spring.